Helius

Sun and the god of the sun. Helius was the son of Hyperion and Theia. The Romans identified Helius as Sol. Helius was the brother of the goddesses Selene and Eos.

Helius married Perseïs (Perseis) or Perse, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys. They were the parents of Aeëtes (Aeetes), Circe, and Pasiphaë (Pasiphae). Aeëtes was the father of the sorceress Medea. For the genealogy, see the Children of Helius.

Diodorus offered an alternative family tree of Helius where he was the father of King Aeëtes of Colchis and King Perses of the Tauric Chersonese. Perses became the father of Hecatê, who was a sorceress and priestess of Artemis, instead of being a goddess herself. Hecatê married her uncle Aeëtes and became the mother of Circê, Medea and Aegialeus. See the alternative family tree of Helius.

Helius had another son named Phaëthon (Phaethon, Φαεθον) and three daughters, Aegiale, Aegle and Aetheria, by the Oceanid Clymene. By Neaera he had two daughters, Lampetie and Phaethusa. All five daughters were known as the Heliades.

Helios in a Chariot
435 BC
Greek krater
British Museum, London

Phaëthon wanted proof that Helius was his father, so he asked to drive the sun chariot for a single day. Helius had promised him a boon so the sun god had no choice but to allow his son to drive the chariot.

As the boy drove the fiery chariot across the sky, the horses realised that the hands that held the reins were inexperienced. Phaëthon lost control of the horses, causing havoc in the sky. Zeus had no choice but to destroy Phaëthon and the sun chariot with his thunderbolt. The Heliades weeping at their brother's death were changed into poplar trees.

Phaéthon
Robert Ingpen
Book illustration, 1985
from Encyclopaedia Of The
Things That Never Were

It was Helius who informed Hephaestus about Aphrodite being unfaithful to him, having a secret affair with Ares. Aphrodite took her revenge on Helius when she caused the death of two women whom Helius loved. See Love and War Bound.

Helius appeared in several other stories. When Heracles went to fetch the cattle of Geryon, the hero found that the sun was too hot and threatened to shoot his arrow at the sun. Admiring the young hero, Helius appeased Heracles by giving him a golden cup to sail around Spain.

Helius kept sacred cattle on the island of Thrinacia. When Odysseus and his crew landed on the island, the crew killed and ate some of them even after Odysseus had warned them not to harm them. Helius demanded that the sacrilege couldn't go unpunished. Zeus destroyed the ship and the entire crew drowned, except for Odysseus. (Here, Homer referred to the sun god as Hyperion, Helius' father. Sometimes the names were used interchangeably.)

In Corinth, Helius competed with Poseidon to become the patron god of the city. The Corinthians didn't want to offend either god, so they wisely worshipped both gods. The height of the Acrocorinth was dedicated to Helius, while Poseidon received the Isthmus.

Helius was the grandfather of Medea, the sorceress and heroine of the Argonautica. When Medea took revenge upon her husband's new bride, Glauce, and Glauce's father Creon, Helius provided Medea with a golden chariot drawn by a dragon to escape from Jason and the Corinthians. See Medea.

According to Diodorus, Helius was originally a mortal boy, the son of Hyperion and Basileia (Theia) and brother of Selene. The Titans were jealous of Basileia and Hyperion, who ruled after their father Uranus had been castrated. The Titans seized and threw young Helius into the Eridanus River where he drowned. Distraught over her brother's death, Selene threw herself from the city wall and died.

Helius appeared to his mother in a vision, telling her that he was now the sun god, while Selene was the goddess of the moon. See Creation, Cosmogony of Diodorus Siculus.